Top 5 Questions to Ask When Choosing a Hosted VoIP Provider

As the modern business world evolves and more services are offered by cloud-based providers, it should be no surprise that growth in the VoIP service provider market has been extremely rapid over the last few years, and isn’t expected to slow down over the next four years. Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, the North American VoIP market was projected to account for over 40% of the global VoIP landscape by 2025. For small businesses without the technological expertise or knowledge, finding the right Hosted VoIP provider can be an extremely daunting task in such a large marketplace of options. SafeCall helps alleviate some of the challenges in searching out a Hosted VoIP provider with our list of 5 of the most important questions a small business needs to ask in order to land on the right service provider for their needs.   

What Is a Hosted VoIP Provider and What Should You Expect From Them?

Advances in technology have allowed businesses to shift to phone systems that allow them to make voice calls through Internet devices and over network lines without the need to access traditional copper-based telephone lines. As with traditional phone systems, accessing this Voice over Internet Protocol requires businesses to retain the services of a VoIP service provider in order to manage the day to day services and equipment. Searching for the right provider means you need to understand what that transition to VoIP looks like, what services to expect, and what equipment you might need. Here’s the questions we feel our clients at SafeCall should know the answers to before moving forward with us as a provider. 

1. Do You Have The Features My Company Needs?

Because we’re integrating voice calling over Internet connectivity, we’re able to integrate your call activity into your existing customer relationship management software, sales tracking tools, and other software designed to improve and provide your organization’s workers with efficient workflows. Aside from software platform integration, VoIP should provide basic phone services - voicemail, call forwarding, caller-id, long-distance calling, and other features. Because your VoIP system would be backed by cloud computing and the flexibility that offers, you can also expect access to high quality automated attendants and voicemail to email functionality as well as integrated conference calling platforms. So, when you ask if the system has the features you need, what you’re really asking is, will this VoIP provider give me access to the competitive tools my employees will need in order to compete in the modern economy. And the answer at SafeCall is yes. 

2. What Equipment Do I Need and What Do I Do With My Old Phone System?

In order to access the benefits and power of VoIP, phones designed to stream data over the Internet through their wired connection are necessary. At SafeCall, we provide our clients with the YeaLink series of phone products as well as the NEC telephone line of powerful IP-enabled solutions. Your best option in order to not be stuck worrying about hardware upgrades and maintenance is to go with a full-service VoIP service provider such as SafeCall. Our packages include installation and ongoing services we address further below. In the meantime, part of the installation process is that SafeCall removes your old systems, and once you’ve committed to our services, we dispose of your old system for you. 

3. What Support Does Your System Include?

Whatever sort of company that you operate, we don’t expect you to have the expertise or tools available to troubleshoot, maintain, upgrade, and operate an internet-based phone system. Once installed, your VoIP provider should provide a service on par with that from SafeCall. We manage installations, we provide ongoing support, and we handle technology upgrades as needed. We also provide training and tech support over the life of the agreement as part of our standard services package for both our Yeahlink and NEC telephone systems.  

4. What Happens If We Hire More People? How Hard is It to Expand Service?

One of the most amazing advantages of a VoIP system is that since everything is based over the cloud, including accounts and data management, the addition of new lines or scaling up for an entire new division at your business is as simple as requesting we add more lines to the account. Our installation crews will come and put the new equipment into place and provide the new connections if necessary in the office. Similarly if you have experienced the need for downsizing due to recent events, we can adjust your plan accordingly and scale your billing to the number of users and the levels of service you actually need. You won’t be paying for anything you’re not using or don’t need. 

5. Can Your VoIP Service Handle My Employees Who Are All Working Mobile and Remote? 

The magic of VoIP phone systems is that they are delivered over Internet lines and can be accessed wherever your employees can access the Internet. Through the use of mobile and computer based service portal applications, our clients can easily access the full range of services and products supported by our VoIP services and your business. 

Bonus Question: Why Haven’t You Called SafeCall Yet?

We’re sure that you have other questions when it comes to navigating your company’s transition to a VoIP phone system. As experienced hosted VoIP providers supporting Yeahlink systems and acting as NEC telephone support, our SafeCall team of specialists are here to answer all of your questions and address all of your concerns before you come aboard as new VoIP clients.